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For the foreseeable future, it seems likely that British Columbians will have to watch as the decades long dance of dysfunction between the BC Government and the BCTF continues to play out.

Victoria, B.C. – Pete Fry was confirmed as the B.C. Green Party candidate for an anticipated Vancouver-Mount Pleasant by-election at a nomination meeting held on Saturday April 25, 2015. Fry was a candidate for Vancouver City Council with the Green Party of Vancouver in the 2014 local government elections. He received 46,522 votes, topping polls in Strathcona, Mount Pleasant and Commercial Drive, which are located in the provincial riding of Vancouver-Mount Pleasant.

Whereas:The governance of Metro Vancouver’s public transit body, TransLink, was significantly changed in 2007 by the Provincial Government which replaced TransLink’s board of locally elected representatives with a board of non-political “experts” to govern and oversee operations.

Whereas: TransLink’s Board has lost the confidence of many voters in Metro Vancouver, as evidenced by public debate during the 2015 Transportation and Transit Plebiscite.

Whereas:  The boards of Metro Vancouver, comprised of locally elected representatives, have a good track record of governance and oversight over regional water, sewage, waste management, parks and other essential regional services through a governance model that is considerably less expensive and more accountable than the current TransLink model of governance.

Whereas: the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation’s first suggestion to reallocate the BC carbon tax to fund new investments in regional transportation and public transit was rejected by the BC Government, requiring the Mayors’ Council to consider other funding sources, including a 0.5% regional sales tax, which was ultimately selected.

Whereas: Participatory democracy, including local decision-making and control, is a fundamental Green Party principle and the planning, governance and directions regarding sources of funding for public transit in Metro Vancouver should be made by locally elected representatives who are accountable to local voters.

The Research & Policy Committee of the BC Green Party has reviewed the party's public policies and has found certain policies to be:

• No longer necessary,

• Ambiguous or unclear,

• Erroneously worded, or

• Impractical

The Research & Policy Committee is recommending that the attached policies be rescinded.